We took a comfortable local bus for about 7 hours through the high altiplano to Puno, on the shores of Lake Titicaca, arriving in the early evening. We went straight out for dinner; Vikki and I shared a garlic bread to start (with barely any garlic) followed by a large chorizo, salami and bacon pizza, which was OK but not as good as our Garlic and Rosemary Lamb with spinach pomme puree which was beautiful.
After the meal, we had a few drinks at pretty much the only bar in town, it was an ok night all round - I got home at 3ish, Vikki got back at 6.30 despite having to be up at 7am the following morning to go to our Lake Titicaca Homestay.
Titicaca is the highest navigable lake in the world, at 3820m (12562ft). After boarding the tourist boat from Puno harbour, we headed to Taquille Island, where tradition rules that women spin wool but it is the men that knit, using five needles.
As much as I knew the lake was big, I´d never really imagined it like this. The enormity is unimaginable, remembering it is only a lake - it´s like looking out over the Mediterranean.
From Taquille, we got back on the boat to Llachon, a small community on a remote peninsula. We first met our host families that we´d be staying with for the night before meeting the rest of the group for lunch. The accomodation was basic, although it was still better than we expected. Lunch was simple yet tasty, after which we played volleyball (badly) with the locals before a quick dip in the freezing cold lake.
We wandered home at sunset to help prepare dinner for the family, before donning traditional Peruvian clothes - a poncho and llama wool hat - to sit down with our hosts and eat. Soon after dinner, however, as the cold set in, we headed to bed - partially because we were exhausted, and partially because we felt awkward sitting with a family with whom we had no conversation due to the language barriers!
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